Unreality

So I saw 'Inception'. And I thought it was lovely, much like everyone else. Lets see if I have anything valuable to say about it, though the web is filled with too much about it already.

Many of the themes Nolan explores in 'Inception' are not new. In fact, I could argue that none are new (but I am prone to arguing that no themes can claim true novelty). For the past decade many films have themes concerning the nature of our reality (or un-reality). Immediately we find precedent for 'Inception' with Scorsese's 'Shutter Island' from earlier this year. And not so surprisingly we encounter again Leonardo DiCaprio in a role where the sanity of his character comes into question.

Nolan is no stranger to these thematic explorations. 'Memento' explored many of the same issues. Increasingly directors have begun to toy with narrative in their movies. This is not a new thing, but the last decade or so has shown that mainstream audiences are increasingly compelled by meta-narratives. Films like 'The Matrix' involve the viewer in different levels of seeming-reality, a sort of puzzle you're encouraged to contemplate, an alternate labyrinthine reality to systematize.

Nolan creates this involving meta-world very successfully. To get us all contemplating is enough proof of value. It's almost as if what was so compelling 70 years ago in a Borges' short story is finally making its way to the mainstream, albeit with a little more flash-bang and ooh-aah. But then again I'm overstating its importance, many movies of the past decade have explored themes of memory and consciousness, reality and unreality, the mind's participation in its reality and the way these things relate to narrative. Gondry has done so delightfully.

And a final note on Nolan's deft and tidy use of ambiguity. He stresses a dream's unreality in contrast to a conscious reality, but allows this analogue to slyly stretch further. By the end of our ride we are unsure whether what we've considered our reality is truly real. What are the bearings by which we prove our reality? How can we ever be sure the things we believe we experience are not illusory? As soon as he has us really contemplating these things, he leaves us hanging.

So overall, I think 'Inception' is a lovely tool for contemplation. In the end I find it useful, and this I value highly in art. Nolan has us discussing and contemplating many questions that have perplexed humanity since time immemorial, and will undoubtedly continue to perplex us. By weaving some modern action, suspense and firepower with questions about dreams and their 'unreality', he has made us all take a step back and think. What more could we ask of an artist?

It begins ...

So here it is; I've done it finally. Yet another one of those lousy Millennial bloggers joining this maelstrom of gooberness. But to continue: it's been around 10 years since I first began pacing uncomfortably around the room trying to put some thoughts together for an entry, and here I may finally do so with proper capitalization and punctuation. And I'll even try to avoid parenthesis (yea right ...) But I may finally have found a focus for a proper blog; let me explain:

Always I've been a kid (now a man?) concerned with the vagueness that is 'Art'. There is the collection of old crayon and otherwise drawings I did as a child that my mother still has; there is my curious seven-year-old aerial imagining of my elementary school used for its yearbook cover; there are my numerous memories of building brackets and tournaments with my brother for paper-airplanes and matchbox cars among other things (art?); but it wasn't until my years at UNO that what may be becoming my 'mature' outlook began to materialize.

One course determined this focus. 'The Philosophy of Art'. What a curiously vague thing! At the time I truly had no idea what even 'philosophy' was, but I sure had some ideas about Art. Or so I thought! I quickly dove straight into what has become the crux of most of meditations over the past five years, the perennial questions of aesthetics: What is Beauty? What is Good? How are works of art judged and evaluated? What is this supposed objective standard that allows us to call one thing 'better' than another with any credibility?

These are the questions I intend to explore through this blog. I'll approach various topics: how popularity and sales comment on a work's value, questions of hype and backlash, what truly makes art memorable, beautiful or useful. I plan on posting my opinions regarding pop music, movies, whatever it is I've been reading, or generally just whatever I'm seriously contemplating at the time (which if you know me you're aware changes frequently). We'll see how this experiment goes; though I can't really say I'm new to the blogosphere, I may be able to say that it's new for me to approach it with some professionalism (how much of a joke is that?). Hopefully I'll be able to voice some interesting opinions on some interesting topics. Alas, it begins!